The Summer Tanager is a beautiful and colorful bird that belongs to the cardinal family, along with cardinals, grosbeaks, and buntings. It is the only completely red bird in North America, with a strawberry-colored male and a mustard-yellow female1. It is named after the German naturalist Georg Steller.

The Summer Tanager has a black bill, a stout body, and a long tail. It measures about 17 cm (6.7 in) in length and weighs about 29 g (1.0 oz)3. It has 16 recognized subspecies, which differ in the amount of black and blue on the head and body2. The largest and darkest subspecies is found on the Queen Charlotte Islands off British Columbia.

The Summer Tanager lives in open wooded areas, especially with oaks, across the southern United States and the mountains of Central America1. It breeds from March to June, depending on the location, and builds a cup-shaped nest of twigs, moss, and mud, usually in a conifer tree1. The female lays 3 to 6 greenish or bluish eggs with brown spots, and the male helps to incubate and feed the young.

The Summer Tanager is a specialist in catching bees and wasps on the wing, and can avoid being stung by their prey1. It also eats seeds, nuts, berries, insects, eggs, and small animals1. It visits bird feeders, where it may compete with other birds for food. It has a loud and harsh voice, and can produce a variety of sounds, including imitations of other birds, animals, and human noises1. It has a distinctive chuckling call note, and a robin-like song that is clearer and less nasal than the scarlet tanager’s.

The Summer Tanager is a common and conspicuous bird in the summer, but migrates as far as the middle of South America each winter1. It is not threatened by extinction, and has a large and stable population1. However, it may face some threats from habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation, as well as from predators, parasites, and diseases. Therefore, it is important to protect and conserve its natural environment, and to appreciate its presence and role in the ecosystem.